GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A Green Bay alderman reacts news that the Green Bay Bullfrogs are shunning the Shipyard deal to move to Ashwaubenon.
Amid criticism, Guy Zima says the city council approved the project at each step, claiming the blame should lie with Mayor Jim Schmitt.
“He took a difficult idea. He worked on it like crazy. But he really couldn’t get players to come want to build on that site.”
Zima previously said he was not against the project, but claimed the city’s proposal was too generous to the summer collegiate baseball team.
“If a better brand of baseball would come, I think that would help make it something more cost effective. It’s third-rate baseball, and they want a big stadium.”
Ninth District Aldermanic Candidate Brian Johnson, who is one of the challengers to Zima in the spring election, says Zima is to blame for what happened.
Zima says electing Johnson would be a mistake.
“I guess Mr. Johnson just wants to come and rubber stamp. He’s gonna be the mayor’s man. They’re funding him. The guy doesn’t have two nickels to rub together. He’s got about $18,000 worth of liens against his name. He couldn’t even run his own business, let alone try to run the city’s business.”
While he notes the plot could still be problematic for construction projects, Zima notes they’ve made recent improvements to bolster the neighborhood.
“I guess you could turn it into a park if you wanted to, get a chance for the public to have a little more access to the water. I think that’s something that we can look at.”
Elected officials say the Shipyard deal has now fallen apart.
